Mikonosuke Kawaishi: Judo Teacher in Europe

by Tony Papenfuss, PhD
(Edited by Neil Ohlenkamp)

Mikonosuke Kawaishi

Mikonosuke Kawaishi was born in Kyoto in 1899, and he died on January
30, 1969 in Paris. He studied jujitsu at the Dai Nippon Butokukai (Greater
Japan Association of Martial Virtue)
in Kyoto. It is not known exactly what style of jujitsu he learned,
although it seems it was a form of Aiki-jujitsu. A group in England
that continues
to teach this form refer to their teachings as Kawaishi
Ryu Jujitsu.

In the mid-1920's he left Japan and toured the United States, teaching
particularly in New York and San Diego. In 1928, he arrived in the
United Kingdom and established a jujitsu club in Liverpool, where
he taught Aiki-jujitsu. He supplemented his meager income from teaching
by wrestling professionally under the name "Matsuda", taking
on wrestlers and boxers in the ring and on stage in music halls.

In 1931, he moved to London, founding the Anglo-Japanese Judo Club
and teaching Judo at Oxford University. Around this time Kawaishi was
awarded his third dan by Jigoro Kano. It was common at this time for
jujitsu instructors to teach, or call what they taught, Judo. Moreover,
Kano awarded many jujitsu exponents Judo black belts in order to
recruit them into the Kodokan.

In 1936, then a fourth dan, Kawaishi moved to Paris where he taught
jujitsu and Judo. During World War 2, Kawaishi returned to Japan
and was imprisoned in Manchuria for a time, but he returned to Paris
after the war to continue teaching.

Before the war, Kawaishi and his student Moshe Feldenkreis had prepared
the photographs for a book on Judo. Feldenkreis had to flee France
during this time. Kawaishi later used the photographs in Standing Judo, while Feldenkreis wrote Judo, and Higher
Judo.

Kawaishi came to believe that merely transplanting the teaching methods
of Japan to the West was inappropriate. He developed an intuitive style
of instruction and a numerical ordering of the techniques that he felt
was more suitable for the West. He adapted his teaching methods
to suit the European culture. This became known as the Kawaishi Method.
One of the changes he is credited with is the introduction of many
colored belts to recognize advancement in Judo. This seemed to catch
on in France and there was a rapid growth of interest in Judo. His
system of Judo is fully described in his book My Method of Judo written
when he was a 7th dan and published in English in 1955. He wrote:

And now some words of advice. Learn thoroughly all these movements.
Study them carefully in all their details. One can never know too
much technique. And then, above all, at the dojo train hard, conscientiously,
seriously and courageously.

After World War II and through the 1950's, the Kodokan moved more
and more towards the sport of Judo; banning techniques from shiai and
dropping them from the Kodokan syllabus. Kawaishi, however, continued
to teach many of these techniques. This led to several political splits
and critics suggesting he had departed from the spirit of Kodokan Judo.
His proponents, on the other hand, say that his teachings remained
closer to Kano's jujitsu. In fact, the strength of his Judo has led
some jujitsu historians to believe that he was a Judoka who also taught
a system of Goshin-jitsu (self defense). He authored My Method of Self Defense,
Standing Judo and several other books.

Kawaishi placed special emphasis on kata training. He promulgated
Kyuzo Mifune's Gonosen No Kata (Forms of Counters) in Europe, and
possibly his own version of Go No Kata, the forms of hardness. He also
wrote the book Seven Katas of Judo. Gonosen No Kata remains
comparitively common in Europe, but practically unheard of in the United
States as a result of Kawaishi's (and Gunji Koizumi's) teachings.

Kawaishi is credited with being the person most responsible for the
spread of Judo throughout France and much of Europe. His books continue
to be popular, and the Kawaishi Method is still practiced around the
world today. Kawaishi and Moshe Feldenkrais
founded the French Judo Federation and he served as Technical Director
for many years. In 1947 he and Koizumi held the first ever international
Judo tournament between France and the United Kingdom which became
known as the Kawaishi Cup.

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